Daemon Sentinel

Daemon Sentinel — XAUUSD H1

Institutional-grade AI signal filtering for Gold traders

OVERVIEW

Daemon Sentinel is an Expert Advisor for XAUUSD on the H1 timeframe that combines a portfolio of independent trading signals with a proprietary machine-learning meta-model trained to distinguish high-probability setups from noise.

Unlike a single-strategy EA, Daemon Sentinel runs 8 fully independent trading engines simultaneously. Each engine targets a different market condition (momentum bursts, mean-reversion windows, session-open opportunities, high-volatility breakouts). The result is a diversified signal portfolio with low internal correlation — when one engine sits out, others can still generate returns.

The meta-model acts as a confidence gate: before any signal reaches the market, a 3-seed ensemble scores it in real time. Only signals that clear the confidence threshold are executed. This filter was trained and validated entirely out-of-sample — it has never seen the test data it was evaluated on.

HOW IT WORKS

Every H1 bar close, each of the 8 trading engines evaluates current market conditions independently. If an engine generates a signal, the AI meta-model scores it across 33 real-time market features — price action, volatility structure, momentum indicators, and market microstructure. Only signals scoring above the confidence threshold proceed to execution.

A separate market regime classifier runs in the background and determines which engines are allowed to trade at any given moment. When the regime is unfavourable for a specific engine, that engine is automatically silenced — even if its raw signal would normally fire. This prevents trading strategies from operating in market conditions they were not designed for.

What you do not get here: martingale, grid trading, averaging down, or any form of account-blowing money management. Every trade has a defined stop-loss placed at entry.

KEY FEATURES

- 8 independent signal engines — diversified across different market conditions and trade directions

- Market regime filter — engines only activate in regimes where they have demonstrated edge

- ATR-adaptive or fixed-point SL/TP — adapts to current volatility automatically

- Break-even management — configurable trigger and profit-buffer offset

- Trailing stop — optional, ATR-scaled, with configurable activation threshold

- 3 lot sizing modes — Volatility Target (recommended), Fixed lot, or Risk % per trade

- Monthly drawdown halt — optional hard circuit-breaker for disciplined risk control

OUT-OF-SAMPLE PERFORMANCE (Feb – Apr 2026)

All results are from a strict out-of-sample period the model was never trained or tuned on.

  February 2026 ......... Positive

  March 2026 ............. Positive

  April 2026 ............... Positive

Three consecutive positive months, zero tuning on the test period. The meta-model's output probabilities in the backtester match live scoring with a Jaccard index of 1.0000 — meaning the EA executes in live trading exactly what the backtest shows.

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

SETUP GUIDE

Step 1 — Attach the EA

1. Drag Daemon Sentinel from the Navigator onto a XAUUSD chart, H1 timeframe.

2. On the Common tab: enable "Allow algorithmic trading".

3. Press OK. The panel should appear in the top-left corner of the chart.

Step 2 — Choose your lot sizing mode

Alternative: Volatility Target

The EA automatically adjusts position size based on current market volatility. In calm markets you trade larger; in volatile spikes you trade smaller. Set "Target annualised volatility" to 0.10–0.20 (10–20%) depending on your risk appetite. Start at 0.10 if you are new to the EA.

Recommended: Risk % per trade (default)

Set "Lot sizing method" to Risk % and "Risk per trade" to 0.5–1.5% of account balance. This is the simplest mode: a 1% risk setting means your maximum loss on any single trade equals 1% of your balance.

Not recommended for live trading: Fixed lot

Use only for testing or if you have a specific reason to hold lot size constant.

Step 3 — Set your SL/TP mode

ATR mode (default, recommended): SL and TP scale with current Gold volatility. The defaults (SL: 1.0x, TP: 2.0x) give a 2:1 reward-to-risk ratio and have been validated in the out-of-sample period. Do not change these unless you understand ATR scaling.

Points mode: useful if your broker quotes Gold in a non-standard way or if you want a fixed distance. Default values (1000/2000 points) are calibrated for standard XAUUSD pricing (1 point = 0.01).

Step 4 — Optional risk controls

- Break-even: enable to move the SL to entry once a trade is 1R in profit. Conservative setting: trigger = 1.0, offset = 5 pts.

- Trailing stop: enable to chase winners. Recommended only after testing in the Strategy Tester first, as it is path-dependent.

- Monthly drawdown halt: set to true and threshold to 15–20% to automatically pause trading after a bad month.

RECOMMENDED SETTINGS BY ACCOUNT SIZE

  Under $1,000        Risk %       0.5% per trade     Conservative

  $1,000 – $5,000     Risk %       1.0% per trade     Moderate

  $5,000 – $20,000    Vol Target   0.10 (10%)         Balanced

  Over $20,000        Vol Target   0.10–0.15          Institutional-style

Always set Minimum lot to your broker's minimum (typically 0.01) and Maximum lot to a value you are comfortable with (start with 0.5 or 1.0).

RISK MANAGEMENT

Daemon Sentinel is not a money printer. It is a statistically-validated signal filter that has shown positive expected value over its test period. Drawdown periods will occur — that is normal for any systematic strategy.

Winning and losing streaks are a natural part of how Daemon Sentinel operates. Because multiple engines can fire in similar market conditions, you may occasionally see 3–5 consecutive losses followed by a cluster of wins. This is not a sign the EA is broken — it is how any diversified signal portfolio behaves in live markets. The regime filter and per-strategy position cap are specifically designed to reduce the severity of losing streaks, but they cannot eliminate them entirely. Do not judge the EA's performance on a single week or a handful of trades.

Recommended capital allocation:

- Do not allocate more than 10–20% of your total trading capital to a single EA on a single instrument.

- Daemon Sentinel trades XAUUSD exclusively. Gold is a volatile instrument — size accordingly.

Correlated position risk:

The per-strategy cap (default: 1 position per strategy) prevents Daemon Sentinel from stacking multiple entries from the same engine on a single bad day. Do not raise "Max positions per strategy" above 2 unless you understand the correlation risk.

What to do during a drawdown:

- Do not change parameters mid-drawdown. Optimising parameters on recent losing trades is the most common way to destroy an otherwise good strategy.

- If the monthly halt is triggered, let it sit. Daemon Sentinel will resume on the first bar of the next month automatically.

- If drawdown exceeds your personal risk tolerance (suggested: 20% of allocated capital), pause the EA and review market conditions — extended one-directional moves in Gold are the primary source of losing streaks.

BROKER REQUIREMENTS

- Instrument: XAUUSD (Gold vs USD). Your broker may list it as XAU/USD, GOLD, XAUUSD.r, etc.

- Timeframe: H1 (mandatory — do not attach to other timeframes)

- Spread: low-spread ECN or STP broker strongly recommended. High-spread market-maker brokers will erode edge.

- Execution: market execution (not instant). Daemon Sentinel uses market orders.

- Minimum account: $500 recommended minimum to allow proper lot scaling.

- Leverage: 1:30 to 1:500. Higher leverage is not required; the sizing logic handles this automatically.

FAQ

Q: Does Daemon Sentinel trade every day?

A: No. The regime classifier and confidence gate mean the EA only trades when conditions meet its criteria. In low-quality market environments it may be silent for several days. This is by design — fewer, better trades beat many noisy trades.

Q: Can I run it on multiple XAUUSD charts simultaneously?

A: Yes, but change the Magic number to a different value on each instance to prevent interference.

Q: Does it work on other instruments or timeframes?

A: The meta-model and regime classifier were trained specifically on XAUUSD H1 data. Attaching Daemon Sentinel to other instruments or timeframes is not supported and will produce undefined behaviour.

Q: Do I need a VPS?

A: Recommended. Daemon Sentinel must be running when H1 bars close to evaluate signals. A VPS with under 10ms latency to your broker is ideal.

Q: Can I backtest it?

A: Yes, via the MT5 Strategy Tester in visual or non-visual mode. Use tick data or 1-minute OHLC for best accuracy. H1 OHLC-only backtests will show less accurate trailing-stop behaviour.

Q: What is the "Minimum model confidence" parameter?

A: This is the AI filter threshold. Higher values = fewer trades, higher average quality. Lower values = more trades, more noise. The validated default is 0.35. Do not go below 0.25 or above 0.60 without running your own backtests.

Daemon Sentinel — built for traders who want an edge, not a gamble.